I have a survey question. Do you dispose of used syringes with NO needles in the garbage or sharps container?
Personally, I prefer the garbage since there is no needle with the syringe. There is very limited space in the sharps container and I go through about fifty 10 ccs syringes a shift. The garbage can is also more convenient than the sharps container. As far as I know, there is no policy in place for disposal of syringes at my facility.
we have small red sharps boxes attached to each bed, so you don't even need to walk away from the bed; there is even one attached to the transport incubators. and, they are changed frequently.
it's all "engineering the solutions" to prevent needle sticks. jmho!!! you shouldn't have to walk that far to dispose stuff. (yes, i did "do some time" on a committee once about sharps--it got to me. i'm sorry.)
we have small red sharps boxes attached to each bed, so you don't even need to walk away from the bed; there is even one attached to the transport incubators. and, they are changed frequently.
it's all "engineering the solutions" to prevent needle sticks. jmho!!! you shouldn't have to walk that far to dispose stuff. (yes, i did "do some time" on a committee once about sharps--it got to me. i'm sorry.)
nothing to be sorry about! i value all your opinions and advice on this matter. in my micu the sharps containers are quite a walk away....and that's a big part of the problem!
I put them all in....if housekeeping sees a syringe (with a needle or not)in the trash, they freak out . If the syringe is in the trash, then the needle could be in there too, according to some.
Of course the irrigation syringes do not go in. I do not think they could even fit.......
Any glass vials from meds also go in there, as well as the plastic adaptors that are not needles, but could still puncture skin if handled incorrectly.:monkeydance:
it's all "engineering the solutions" to prevent needle sticks. jmho!!!
no need to apologize ... the solutions in place at your facility (sharps containers attached to the bed) sound wonderful! in my case, mho is that i'm at a bigger risk walking over, around & through obstacles to get to the container while carrying an uncapped needle than i am to carefully recap.
I think it is just safer to throw a syringe in the sharps container. I don't want to provide easy access for drug users. A question is though, What does everyone do with the 30cc and 60cc syringes used for irrigation or flushing ngt/gt/jt's? Everytime I put it in the sharps I think to myself that it is a waste of a sharps container. I really haven't asked my co-workers about this but it would be interesting to know.
Okay, my bad. I didn't read through all of the posts before I posted. It sounds like I am the only one that throws the larger syringes in the sharp box. I guess my thinking is is that if someone sees a syringe in the trash then it will automatically be considered a potential hazard. If a syringe is seen in the trash, how does a person know what the use was of that syringe? A needle is hard to see from a distance so how would anyone know that a needle wasn't attached? I feel that it is also more comforting for visitors to know that syringes aren't thrown in the trash.
My pet peeve is nurses throwing regular trash in the sharps. I see labels in the sharps box all the time. I dispose of those in the shred box. For needle-less syringes, I usually use the sharps bin because I wasn't sure myself.
I throw syringes in the sharps box although it is perfectly acceptable to throw it in the trash. It's just force of habit. It really bugs me when people throw other trash in the sharps container like gauze and other things.
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prmenrs, RN
4,565 Posts
we have small red sharps boxes attached to each bed, so you don't even need to walk away from the bed; there is even one attached to the transport incubators. and, they are changed frequently.
it's all "engineering the solutions" to prevent needle sticks. jmho!!! you shouldn't have to walk that far to dispose stuff. (yes, i did "do some time" on a committee once about sharps--it got to me. i'm sorry.)